Actis manager takes on Three Peaks Challenge to help save friend’s eyesight

An intrepid Actis insulation employee aims to conquer the three highest mountains in mainland Britain next month to raise money to help save the sight of one of his best friends.

Specification manager Dan Anson-Hart will scale Ben Nevis in Scotland, Snowdon in Wales and Scafell Pikes in England in the annual Three Peaks Challenge to help pay for a course of injections for his friend Tom Enright who faces going blind within six months without the treatment.

Enright has been suffering from diabetes for many years and has now developed aggressive diabetic retinopathy.

The event, on June 9, will see Anson-Hart and a group of university friends walk around 27 miles and ascend nearly 10,000 feet in the space of 24 hours.

Anson-Hart, a former PE teacher and keen footballer and rugby player, who is aiming to raise £2,500 towards the £700 a shot monthly treatment, said: “Have you ever thought about losing your eyesight at a young age? Not being able to see the smile of your wife on your wedding day, or see your first-born child come in to the world? This is the terrifying reality one of our best friends is facing. Not a group of friends to watch when one of their own is struggling, we have agreed to this mighty challenge. We’re five rotund, balding, middle-aged men so will need all of your support to keep us going!

“I’ve climbed Helvellyn, not far from Sca Fell Pikes, several times over the years on holidays in the Lake District – once with my trusty Labrador Mylo, but I’ve never tackled Snowdon or Ben Nevis… So the thrill of conquering the new peaks combined with having to do it in record time and raising money towards vital medical treatment is going to make this a pretty amazing weekend.”